welcome to our home from tampa florida, home of the republican national convention, we begin this evening with -- it

is not a case the more important is can he fix it? can he fix it for me. does he understand me, the working class, the working guy out there? >> rose: we continue with the governor of puerto rico, lewis -- >> immigration is not a major issue for puerto rico because we are american citizens as a hispanic and actually as a republicanly tell you that, we want the free flow of goods, people and ideas, however, there have to be rules, nowadays, at least the rules are in existence, they don't work and it is obvious to every one

storks we need some rules, so that people who want to come here and work and contribute to the economy, people that want to come here and actually continue with their knowledge, expertise or invest in our nation should be able to come in in an orderly fashion and that is what we need. >> rose: we conclude this evening by looking back at other republican conventions and other speakers. this evening from a president ronald reagan. >> the republican national convention from tampa. next. funding for charlie rose was provided by the following. for for today, hurricane isaac s

made its present known, there is fear of damage to new orleans and other places reminding some of the tragedy of hurricane katrina, many see this week's proceedings as an opportunity for mitt romney to define himself, the republican party, and why he should be elected to, two of the speakers included house speaker john boehner, rick santorum form and romney and governor chris christie, this week will be a test for governor romney, the vice presidential nominee and the keynote speaker, joining me now in tampa, john dickerson, the political director of cbs news, and a correspondent for slate magazine, mike murphy, a republican strategist and columnist for time magazine, and matt dowd, contributor for news thank you for joining us. let's start with a conversation about the republican party. we will get to mitt romney and paul ryan in a moment. where is the republican party today and is that a burden for mitt romney? or more? >> they are in the polling, and matt can talk about this there

is some burden to the republican brand, historically fewer people have been identified as republicans than democrats but our biggest problem is more future oriented which are the changing demographics of the country. increasingly the part of the country we are not very competitive with, african-american voters, latino voters, even asian voters is rapid my growing and we are becoming a baseball team that only plays for a few of the innings, while the other guys get all seven, or whatever. so we do have to understand that the country is changing demographically and if we don't change to appeal to that, and sell conservativism there then mathematically we are going to be in huge trouble i am not talking about 20 years from now, i am talking about now to four to eight years from now. >> rose: is there a conversation about this in tampa? >> well, i haven't heard one. i mean, i think one of the things that happens in politics is campaigns win and then they learn the wrong lesson, that involved in it and i think the republicans won in 2010 and then took away the wrong lesson that

some how they were back and now going to be america's majority party and i remember an analysis between 2000 when i worked for governor bush and 2004, and i basically said if we got the same vote in 2000 among the certain same groups in 2004 we lost the election by 4 million votes and got decimated in the electorial college, the changing demographics is forcing what needs to be a conversation but more than a conversation, a change in the nature of the politics, the problem is the republicans are still appealing to groups from long ago with messages from long ago and it is now a different country. i was struck going back and reading what governor bush was talking about in the 2000 convention, talking about immigration plans, talking about all of these plans that were a part of appealing to this new demographic, that was 12 years ago and things have gone backwards since then. >> for that reason we have a disease in the party right now or at least the romney campaign has had an hopefully they will cure it this week not understanding the republican primary is over and that base

republican votes are not a swing vote. we calm the base because they will almost vote for a bag of cement. >> that is 44 percent of the communicate, best case so if we don't point this convention and campaign at the votes we don't have which are in some of these territories that are a little uncomfortable for us historically, demographically it is tough. >> rose: then who ought to do that? >> well, that is the difficulty, and so the, where the republican party is today, the party you would say the leader of the party is mitt romney of the party today and the speaker we are we are in the a even talking about the speak whore is speaking, is mitt romney ought to be that person but the problem is you have a base of the republican party and a number of swing voters that basically if they are going to vote for mitt romney it is not going to be a vote for mitt romney it is going to be a vote against obama and to me that is, the fundamental thing that has to be determined at this convention he has to turn it from an anti-obama vote to a pro romney, much more of a pro romney and that message and that advantage has not happened.

>> which raises this question is his issue down here creating and becoming more human and likable or more authentic? >> well, i think there is a debate about that, my personal view is that the likability thing can be a trap. i think the country is very happy to elect a president they may not love as a personal therapist or cheerleader or lifestyle coach but somebody who can deliver jobs and control crazy spending. i think mitt romney, he will take the campaign forward, i am with matthew he has to give a rationality for his candidacy. obama is in second place and romney in third and nobody has first. he needs to talk about delivering results and how he will do that. >> rose: can he make that case this is it a case based on his experience he ought to be able to make? >> right but a biography to mesa beginning, the negative ads destroy biography is the problem, biography gives him the standing to make the argument but i want to hear the bumper

sticker how he will create jobs. he is willing to bet on somebody to do that because the hung search so great and romney has to make a case. i think there has been a huge, too much emphasis put on likability, it matters but doesn't matter fully, people are willing to fire all of us that have been in organizations where likable people got fired because they weren't competent at their job, the american public will fire barack obama even though they like barack obama because they don't think he may have the answers and the competency to solve the problem. what mitt romney's problem is not necessarily likability, it is the american public, a huge par part of it doesn't trust him, whether you call it authenticity or something there is manager they don't feel about him and not have a gut connection to mitt romney they hear all of the head speak but have no way to know, they don't know his heart. >> rose: is that in part because the democrats in the ads they have run so far or the super pacs have done an effective job or because it simply came out of who he was coming out of the republican primary and some knowledge of the flip flopping that was necessary? >> in the end, the most effective ads go to something

that already exist it is most effective ads are something you play on a weakness somebody already had, has this is a weakness mitt romney had ever since 2007 race that he ran in, where he created authenticity gap in the race he ran. that is what he is dealing with. it is not necessarily the ads. the ads wouldn't work if this was a strength. >> and ann romney you heard a lot talk about trust and i think that is the way they are trying to get this trust to attach to the candidate, he is kind of a stainless steel quality, he doesn't -- likability is kind of a graze that doesn't hit exactly what we are talking about but it is this notion people can grab on to something and they can feel something about him, it doesn't require -- it is not the full thing for romney. he basically is going to win if people think he can fix the economy but they need to travel a little distance with him and trust him and i think that is ann romney's -- that is where

she talks about trust all the time. >> rose: how do you create trust? >> trust and a level of connection and i think ann romney is an asset but in the end he will have to make the sale on thursday and have to make a sale on the course of the three debates where they basically stand next to barack obama and gives a speech that the american public can start nodding their head and say okay i can see this guy in charge and running the country in a way i agree with and have a series of debates he has to build on that. >> rose: when you look at the role of paul ryan in this campaign what does he have to do in this convention? >> not be scary. so, there is an interesting thing in the polls right now which is, democrats look at the polls and they say that a voucher plan for medicare prior to tense seniors and frightens them in the battle ground states so that is dangerous, paul ryan, paul ryan is a nice fresh face guy but also the author of the premium support plan for so the democrats want to stick those two things together. >> rose: can he make the premium support plan attractive only only if they talk about it

this way which is what you have got is fine, nothing is going to get hurt. people way, way down the line, it is going to be great, because what you will get is choice, you can choose a plan over here that has these qualities but if you don't want that kind of risk you -- >> rose: keep medicare. >> keep medicare, the problem is a deal is too good to be true and if you press on the numbers what you get back from the campaign is, well, once you throw this open to the private market that will drive down costs and it will be fine. that may work, but is that must have of the a sales job, will people say, okay we will hand medicare over to the private market. mere is the problem with the paul ryan pick that i think is developed so far, 15 days ago there was 85 days left in this race. every day that mitt romney and the campaign wasn't talking about the economy, it was a day barack obama was winning, every day that happened and for 15 days up until this convention to now they have not been talking about the economy. they have been talking about medicare and talking about entitlements and talking about akin. >> rose: does that mean that the press forces the agenda that they talk about? or can they --

>> mitt romney created the agenda, when you picked paul ryan's whose signature issue is this reform, you invite it. the press will chase shiny objects, and when you -- the vice president -- nobody votes for vice president, you know that's why like a co-star in a movie, so you ought to be careful and with paul ryan they picked a very attractive guy. now i like paul ryan maybe i will be able to vote for him for president one day, as i said before, i was for a little less flashy choice because the new shiny object is medicare, and generally, depending on the medicare train is a land war in eyes for us there are some consultants that disagree this will be the big election we will change all of that and go on the democratic turf and beat them the first time if my 28 years in running elections i have seen that and i am hoping i am wrong but under the old rule book there is a lot of risk here. >> rose: and you really believe that? >> i think there are people kind of around the romney world who think we made a big pick and exciting pick and energized the

base now are my point of view that that is my least favorite phrase in politics because in most national polls romney is doing slightly margin margin of error better than republicans than obama is with democrats the base is not the problem it is everybody else is the problem and moving a campaign to jobs and economy where we ought to win to medicare, where we are really, really going to win but it is harder seems like a long bet. >> rose: can you make -- it appears they made a leadership pick which is to say mitt romney and paul ryan say we take on tough issues and for that we should get a certain amount, a certain number of points but as mike says, if one of those tough issues is medicare and people are more afraid of medicare than they are happy you have decided to take on the problem of medicare then you are stuck with the weight of medicare and get no real benefit from being a guy who takes on the tough issues. >> i think come friday, even though they will make the argument in all of these meetings and all that we love to talk about medicare and this could be a winning issue for us and do all of this and this is a great way to show the side of us we can do it come friday they want to talk about the economy

and jobs. paul ryan on the ticket, even though he has done medicare that's what they want to talk about and if they are not talking about that is a big problem for the campaign. >> rose: everybody says the election is about the future so they can make their pitch on economy and the jobs is about the future by arguing that this real estate had an opportunity and couldn't fix it and they have a plan so their plan is about the future? >> but it is much less to do with the actual plan, there are elements of the plan oh i need to know all the details of the plan. >> rose: it is what. >> the american public has a sense one this pie gets what the problem is and two he is not going to just have a federal government fix to the problem because we tried that and they don't like that solution, he is going to free up private industry in some way that doesn't have to be a lot of detail to it and he knows he is going to be in the white house looking after the middle class. part of what obama has done successful any and the obama campaign has done successfully is they have created this story that says he is only going to be looking after the rich he people in the white house. >> he doesn't understand because of his life experiences. >> he has to convince people he

will bet the main street economy going for everybody, small business, entrepreneur ship and to get there he has to show the motive, he gets the fact it is the small businesses that people rely on, a lot of the employment and be their champion every single day and he has to plan to do it, he doesn' doesn't need te 19-point economic plan but i know how to do and he need a few bumper sticker issues lie the old rick santorum form issue amount manufacturing jobs and things like that so when the romney guy is arguing with the obama person and the undecided voter they both have some ammo to persuade the undecided voter in the economy that's why they need to get on jobs and off medicare. >> rose: are there fewer undecided in this election than most elections? >> the data seems to indicate that there are, the data seems to indicate what has happened in this election, and it is dynamics of this actually happened with president obama the, president bush in a large degree in 2004, romney could go to bed and get 47, 48 percent of the bed, obama could go to bed

and get 47, 48 percent of the group so we have a small group of folks. >> rose: that is four percent. >> the interesting thing about the undecided 67 percent are women, 67 percent of the people will swing are women and that's why the dynamic over the last couple of weeks has been really important in this conversation that has happened. >> rose: in terms of akins and the rest. >> social issues and all of that kind of thing. >> rose: so what can mitt romney go about that and the in the reremaining time he has in the convention, thursday, friday night speech and the first debate? >> he has to get so good at the tilt forward i am on your mainstream, main street economics and crowd out the other stuff if he gets in the other stuff it is all a very expensive argument for him because the democrat grafntion of the undecided vote and look at state distribution, because the national polls can be misleading are a doable thing for him but he needs a really good economic i will make your life better campaign, he has to close that deal. >> rose: how does he do that is my question?. i think he comes up with a more compelling

message than biography. >> way too heavy on my view on the biography. >> rose: he has a story, you believe to sell that could be effective he just has not yet articulated or caught a narrative wave that will do that, here is the voter he needs, about half a million voters, 350,000 of them are women, and distributed in about ten states and those women are these people. they like barack obama, they voted for barack obama, they don't like the direction of the country, and they are nervous about the economy. in the end that is who he needs to appeal but he need to, i think they make a mistake and have done this on certain days of trying to make people dislike the president they have to say here is your gold watch, nice try you didn't do the job and -- >> what is interesting about that that's where they started for a long time, obama would say he is a miss man, just didn't do the job, we can fix the problem. then we have the messages coming out that it is going to be more combative here because you realize that that was not enough. he has to reduce the likability of the president. >> it is a strategy, that the

percent that mitt needs to win like the president you have to retire him and go the two coaches argument which is my point as a great coach, the most inspirational halftime coach and his players are the happiest people and a role model for all us in the right way to run and inspire a team, the record is zero and 42, i am not so food of the coach and i cut the slower player and give them more practice. >> and 14 and 1, so if you want to pick a role model -- if you want a coach who is going to win and get you a job? >> rose: yo you want a guy that will get you to the super bowl. that's why the likability stuff is a sideline. >> rose: all right. >> but he also needs a little bit possess a trust shield, which is for us, you know, obama is saying he will do all of these terrible things in office, like akin hiding behind him and they will run -- >> they need to know his real compass. and trust me -- >> the truth is -- >> rose: that's the unknown for most voters. i was talking to a guy today who said to me, who said to me, he

had been a part of the republican primary process, and he said to me, i am happy with where he is, my problem is, i don't know if that is where he will be if he is elected. >> well, great news for mitt romney is mitt romney controls the trajectory of this race more than anybody else, including the president. the president doesn't control this race. mitt romney does. this campaign is new information about mitt romney. romney versus obama, if romney does it right, he is now liberated, the primaries are over, he can be mitt romney. >> so the ball is in his court to win the election. >> he has his hand on the control and make it about obama and the right way get him self out of the way and win. >> with an election this close i think that is a good place to be as a challenger, dead even and the ball is in his court. >> the problem is demographics and the way the votes are distributed in the states. >> and does he have an virus he doesn't have an antidote for. >> rose: what virus might he have. >> his authenticity is so badly damaged. >> rose: he can't fix the problem. >> times, cbs poll 32 percent

don't have a view about mitt romney, 14 percent zero don't have a view about the president, the president is locked in and people can't get new information to help him but 32 percent you know the remaining person percent of in election is about, the 32 percent, is it mitt romney who can fix things and not scary or mitt romney that is scary. >> and how do democrats feel okay about firing barack obama, who -- you can like him but you can retire him. >> pro moat/note him to -- >> you don't promote him -- >> don't fire him, just don't give him a new contract. >> put him in the u.n. and write another book. that is the last percent. >> that is a hard sell in politics when you have been through a long, tough republican primary. >> they want to rip his head off and that is a mistake. that's a mistake. all the way they can -- >> rose: is there an issue in which he can, beyond making the case for he can run things better than anybody on the

planet, is there a way, is. >> something he should do and thinking about what obama did kind of with the teachers union in 2008, can he pick a part of the republican orthodoxy and attack it? >> you know, he is a friend of mine and told him to do that earlier because i think, if hef doesn't too late it is going to look mechanical and forced and the way -- >> i ran his campaign from governor of massachusetts. i am a big believer in him and i know the real guy, he is a really good guy. i think he has to be careful now because there is a press narrative that sticks, often unfair so the press is going the look if he changes his tie, another romney panned store he has to be careful not to fall into reinforcing that stereotype although it is unfair. >> and it goes to trust, i don't know with which guy in is. >> here is what will happen. there will be a couple of moments that romney doesn't have to sort of say i am against this or for this or for tax increases and a couple of moments people will say something in a crowd that will be totally inappropriate and something about the real estate, there will be some moment that he will have the opportunity that shows

that he is above the base of the party. if he takes it and grabs that, he can win that and get those undecided. he will have those moments and those moments will occur. we can't have that in wisconsin, they screamed about the president being terrorist and mccain said, no he is a decent honorable guy i think he is wrong -- >> a and grabbed that moment and played it many times. >> he was pretty good on -- i think it was a test of starting to think that way. it was two hours late but he could have been three days late when somebody said, the base, the base, the base. i think he will do that. >> rose: thank you. great to have you here. thank you. >> thank you, john. we will be right back, stay with us. >> rose: we continue our republican national convention analysis with al hunt, executive editor of bloomberg news and mark halperin of time magazine i am pleased to have them both here in familiar pennsylvania we have a copy of some of the remarks, we are taping this as -- she will speak at 9:00 p.m. i

am speaking of ann romney, it is a very interesting speech. i mean just paid. >> based on what you see here, what was her task and what do you think this accomplishes if she delivers it the way she assume she will? >> charlie i think her task was to humanize her husband. he has a big likability problem, as they like to say, and she is just a fabulous asset, because if you want to talk about likability i cannot imagine anyone being around ann romney and not liking her, she is, i don't know her very well and been around her four or five times in my life, but between those experiences and talking to other people this is a really warm, down-to-earth person. she as a lot of the attributes inner husband struggles a with and i think she will try to describe him some how different than his public persona and from the excerpts we have read i think we all agree, she is probably going to do a pretty darn effective job. >> rose: i assume this will be in the speech and reading from the excerpts i read somewhere that we have a story book marriage, with flel the story books i read there were never

long, long rainy winter afternoons with five boys screaming at once and those story books never seem to have chapters called ms or breast cancer. >> we want our presidents to be both bigger than life and kind of on a pedestal but also accessible and relatable, and based on a lot of their biographer, biography and based on how attractive they are and how financially successful and based on the efforts of the obama campaign they have not had, the romney family have not had many moments to seem accessible, they the i not interview leading up to the convention with scott pelley in which they talk about shopping at cosco, and. >> rose: and miscarriages which we didn't know about. >> so under a lot of elements of their life which are accessible and this speech is meant to highlight a lot of those and present the broad theme of normal family in some ways but also that her husband is up on a pedestal and extraordinary confidence in him to be a great president and talks about that as well. >> rose: i had a conversation

just before you pies came here, and the essential essence of it was that what the president, the presidential mom knee has to do is make the case for his competence, i don't want to you that word but that he really knows how to fix the economy, that that is what he has to do and that is more important than even go you buy that? >> i think both. i think there is a lot of false choices out there about base election versus independents, seeking independent voters, he has got to be both, and i think the likability, he has got to reach a certain threshold and in er will be more likable that president obama in the public realm he has to, the competence think thing is where he will win or lose the election. i agree with mark. mitt romney is not a warm, natural politician he just isn't. he is awkward and stiff, i don't think he is a guy who you would have a lot of fun having a beer with even if he drank beer but what i do think charlie is he has to pass a threshold of just stepability so someone can

envision him being in a living room the next four years and i do think that the more important one is, more important is can he fix it not can he fix it can he fix it for me? does he understand me? does he understand me the middle class, the working pie out there? so i think that is the sales job that he has. and that's all the negative advertisement about bain capital have been about? >> of course it is. it is all -- >> rose: he doesn't understand, he is not of you? he has no feeling for -- >> the obama people don't have a great hand. i mean, most americans think the country is moving in the wrong direction. that the economy is only slowly struggling to get back, and hadn't gotten where they want and an awful tough four years and what they have to say is look if this is about the future and that's dice city right now as far as the candidates are concerned but this guy will give you something a lot worse. there is all of this talk about how conventions are so different than they used to be and in a lot of ways they are different, they are still similar i think in their basic essence at least in the television era which is this is a three-day instead of fur day celebration of the man

and the candidate, much more than it is of the party. and in that respect, it is mitt romney's one chance to be the leader of the republican party but also a three-day advertisement for what his best take is and my supporters best take and what is good about mitt romney, what does he believe in what is he good at and how does he relate to people and we are going to see a series of speeches and i think they have very strong speechers,ing speakers including ann romney and chris christie, people have to leave here finding him, i think, the country much more up until now an interesting figure and a figure possess some possibility and moment and even magic. >> rose: can you do that in a speech? >> oh i think you can. i think george bush the elder did it, i think al gore did it to some extent, i think obviously bill clinton did it. i think absolutely you can do it in the speech, particularly, again, even with the change in the yield culture, this speech is going to be widely seen and widely discussed and widely reported. he need to give a good enough

speech so next week when the president is giving his speech people are still talking about this one. let me slightly, just very mildly disagree with mark. i think the storm is an issue it could have been devastating for him it is not binge to be devastating but still distracting on thursday and thursday night there is going to be torrential downpours in southern louisiana and new orleans, people similar remember what happened before, i don't think .. that the nation is going to be rivetted on mitt romney thursday night as much as they were on bill clinton or even al gore 12 years ago. >> and some people say there may be a split screen. >> yes. psychologically, will is going to be a bitthewere going to do. i mean they just had a series of awful choices and avoided that, charlie i think it is a bit of a distraction so mark i think there won't be quite as many people at least focused quite as intently as they would have otheotherwise. i agree but if he does as well as he does with or without a storm it will breakthrough and it will -- >> it will continue. and people will talk about it.

one of his disadvantages in this election has been th to the yes, sir, most people in the press don't much like him and don't much know him, i think we haven't talked much about paul ryan this week, i am surprised he has been relatively out of the spotlight, i think his speech will be a big deal as well what it will say about a different direction in terms of possibility and different direction in terms of policies. >> rose: he says he will do three things in a speech in an article in the wall street ance that people see, but the coverage of it and they are blessed in terms of politics of having a series o election it is even? the in the margin of era. >> i think obama is slight i ahead in a margin of era, margin of error. >> i think that probably will kiskiss dissipate by the weekend romney will be a little ahead and next week -- i think september, we are going to go in with basically a dead even race. >> rose: and then debates might have an impact? >> and i know mark disagrees with in. i think that is overrated and i

think history shows that is overrated, i think whichever candidate runs the best campaign, some of it is -- >> rose: how do you define the best campaign, not make making scpaiks, keeping on message, keeping with your issues and setting the agenda, i mean, that is -- i mean, one of the reasons mitt romney has had i think a troubling couple of weeks and why he ought to feel about the polls given the weeks he has had he is off message, if ierm barack obama or mitt romney can dominate the agenda from september 10th to sixth, and debates are only a part of it and i don't think that big of a part of it then that candidate is going to win. >> rose: no what do you think they know that they have to do beyond likability, beyond convincing america that they can fix the economic problem? i mean do they have some sense we have to -- i mean we have to make sure that we get a fair shake with the hispanic vote? we have to make sure that there is an argument that we can make to women? who may believe for a variety of reasons that the party or the man is not

sensitive to their own aspirations? >> i think the balance of thought within the party as well as in the campaign on the republican side is you -- they need to do well enough with hispanics but they are not looking for some breakthrough. senator mccain, president bush both were looking for kind of a generational breakthrough with the hispanic vote that would really change things up but they are not aspiring to that and hoping to hold down their losses they know in future presidential elections, if they performed at the level they perform with the hispanic vote they will be blown out but they are on probably the last one where they can get away with 25, 30, 32 percent. >> rose: what about women? >> with a low turnout. yes but with women, no, they must do better than, but. >> rose: women are a majority of the independents who haven't decided. >> they are but remember the president has to figure out how to figure out how to figure out this problem, i if you look the male problem is just as big as governor romney's women's problem. >> rose: not ten percent? >> i think to go back to the question of where we stand, the electorial college still favors

the president, i think in talking to a lot of strategists here from the campaign and people working on other races, i don't think he can, because of his problem with hispanic voters and other groups, i don't think he can cherry pick his way to an electorial college wins he needs a national win that bruce tied, produces a tide that, in order for him to win in. >> i mean that is governor rhythm romney? >> governor romney. i don't think we will win florida, or ohio, with we need to win with a large sweep. >> i think he is right. if you get to the electorial college map i just don't see how romney wins unless he wins florida and unless he wins ohio and then other small -- >> rose: and those states. >> having said that, let me say this. if he wins by two or three points the math doesn't matter. it only matters if it is a one-point race. >> rose: okay. and let's talk about those states, ohio where does it stand today before the convention. >> there was conventional wisdom earlier in the cycle, virginia

is the new ohio and the be a all and end all. >> high owe is back to being critical, romney can get to 270 without ohio but it is difficult. ohio is a shocking my weak state, he has a problem with the auto bailout. >> rose: although ryan voted for it. >> yeah but he didn't and people -- and obama will drill that, in it was a political mistake for sure but also he is not great in the traditional republican areas of strength, in southeastern and southwestern ohio he is not as strong as george bush was or john mccain was, i think his mormon faith may be a problem in in parts of that state. >> rose: will it help him in nevada. >> it will for sure and help him in colorado also as well. and arizona, so ohio right now, if i am thinking about the map from the romney point of view they must solve their ohio problem before they can think about how else to get to 270 and right now i talk to one republican strat gist yesterday who said you know what as bad as michigan it may be better than

ohio. >> i heard the same thing. >> rose: i thought michigan had been written off. >> some have written it off that shows you how bad the ohio problem is. >> we had breakfast with rob other man today who mark halperin did persuade me with the best choice for vice president, i was convinced of that and believe that as much as i like paul ryan, rob portman said the model he thinks romney will win ohio or at least he says that. >> rose: he thinks romney will win? >> he does, i don't think rob portman who is a very smart politician would say anything else but he says the model is clear and what bush did in '04, a big, big tally in the small counties and do well in southeastern ohio and do well in the suburbs of cincinnati and cleveland and i think the latter is probably going to be the case, high owe suburbs are easier than pennsylvania suburbs for romney and running t to the running the up the margins. >>n't i en, he doesn't have the

same rural appeal as george bush did, and bush won ohio against kerry by doing exactly what al said, running up huge margins in smaller places and spent a lot of time there and a lot more like texas than belmont, massachusetts. >> rose: when you look at the romney team, the campaign strategist, they won the primaries. they are on the eve of being no, ma'am made on this tuesday, the real estate, they are about even. by defers that means the people running that campaign noah bit, they know something about politics and how to win? >> experience grew and they are fearless and they interact with their candidate the best i can tell on a very positive way. most presidential campaigns i have covered that have lost, there is irrelevant rationality, irrationality, within the campaign between the candidate and the spouse and the staff,

you don't hear a lot of that in this campaign. there is a rationality to it and a good decision-making process that i think, again, speaks well of their chances on that measure of a good staff, a good working relationship with a candidate. >> rose: how about the obama team? >> first i agree that mark knows the romney team much better than i do but i think he is right. they did beat a weak field but i think he is right about that. you know, i don't think the obama team is as awesome as its reputation. i think it is a bit overrated to be perfectly frank with you. i am not -- they are tough and smart, they are usually rather united, or some tension between, you know, washington heights and chicago times, washington times and chicago types i am not as high on team obama as the conventional wisdom. >> rose: let me close with this. what happens between the close of the democratic convention and the first debate in october? what -- how do we character try that snerd. >> well one thing that happens

on friday is the romney campaign gets to start spending this general election money. >> rose: have more money. >> one thing they haven't done at all is direct mail w spent a lot of time on. the have, talking about the tv ads, direct mail matters some and they have not done that and -- >> rose: can the super pacs do that? >> i can't recall super packs. >> they can do that but they don't do much of it. they, what they do, do is get out the vote. the koch brothers spent a fortune to get out out the vote. >> rose: and we will see what the ad are like. we have seen much more advertising that in the past but we will see the markers on general advertising and then all brace to see if the polls move, if either side gets a bigger bounce than the other, neither campaign expects that, they expect one bounce to cancel out the other but i wouldn't be surprised if one did better than the other and we will also see a lot of debate prep because al, i think is right, the debate, the influence and importance of the debates can be overstated, but both of these these keantsdz

think the debate are a huge opportunity for them. >> and they both have some respect for each other on the debating front or not? >> they have respect/contempt because they think the other is skilled but says things that are not true and looking forward to kind of dismantling that. >> rose: pointing it out. >> and they both think they can but they both put together really sharp debate prep teams and spend to spend, both intend to spend a great amount of time on that. >> portman played romney and kerry will may romney the in the prep. >> yes, rob portman was late on a marker and saysly play a different obama than i played four years ago when i also played obama. how, this time he will be more negative. he is going to be more nasty, thank you, senator. look, i think that period from september settlement to october 2nd i think that is a critical period. it is what mark said but also goes back to what we were talking about earlier, i think whoever controls the agenda, whoever controls the dialogue,

in that three weeks leading up to that is really, really important. >> rose: so if we are not talking about the economy, the romney campaign is in trouble in that period? >> yeah, i mean look the medicare fight is really an interesting one, the washington post, abc poll shows romney being trusted more on medicare is a huge deal, one poll but people will watch that on both sides to see did they really make progress. the senate congress akin and senator, candidate in missouri he is still out there and still trying to get him off the ballot and we could see world events, gas prices, iran, i mean, europe there is the normal list. >> rose: these are the october surprises. >> but i think the spending on tv ads and the other thing, and alex rodriguez lewded to this earlier is, al, alluded to this earlier, neither candidates significantly upped their game the last couple of months, they are both fine and i think romney improved some but neither hit their stride in a way that the winning candidate normally does and i think it will be interesting to see that, we will see a lot of retail campaigning

and stump speeches and i am sue romney will grow out of the convention speech but where you go out and watch c-span and watch a speech in full, and you say wow that guy is speak zeroing, speak fog country. >> neither one of these guys have really addressed most voters what will you do for me now, they are both talking ten years from now, i think there are a lot of voters out there, a small group of undecided voters and also the persuadables who may not turn out what are you going to do for me now and neither one met that test yet. >> rose: thank you. great to see you, al, great to see you, mark. back in a moment, stay with us. >> rose: the luis for for here, the governor of puerto rico this year, mitt romney called him one of the great leaders of our party at a point in time there was speculation there i can a sleeper pick for vice president as gop aims to increase its appeal to hispanic voters, that did not happen but

tomorrow might the governor will address the delegates here in tampa, the vice presidential nominee paul ryan to speak. i am glad to have the governor of puerto rico at the table here in tampa florida, talking about america, a political campaign and also individual states, so, welcome. >> thank you very much. appreciate the invitation. >> tell us what we ought to know about puerto rico. >> sure. we are a three hours away from washington, two and a half away from miami, going east in the caribbean, we have been part of the abuse since 1898. we have been measure citizens since 1917, natural born american citizens. we fought in every war since then. actually in greater numbers proportionately speaking than most states, over 200,000 computer ricans have fought in every war, and we are proud again to be americans, but at the same time, we are proud of our heritage. so for example at home, we speak spanish at dinner time, but we

are bilingual, i was a practicing lawyer, i would negotiate contracts in spanish and draft them in english so that is puerto rico. >> rose: what about the politics of puerto rico? >> interesting. we are basically divided by status preference. so the old state republican party is the party today that is called the new party for progress. and nowadays, we are fiscally conservative, socially conservative, we tend to be republican. but not all of us are republican. i am, but i will say mint percent are public republican, ten percent are democrats but what bind us and brings us to believe together is that we believe as a territory, we should move on to the next level and actually become a state of the union, then there is the party that historically tied to the democratic party on the mainland, and they want to stay as we are. and then you have a shall but

vocal pro independence party, and they garner about two and a half, three percent of the vote every election, very important and they have a place in our public discourse, and then every now and then there are some minority parties that come up, green parties and what have you. >> rose: what is your pry prior, primary economic product. >> manufacturing is our main engine for the economy, it actually represents about 45 percent of our gnd. we, gdp, we produced most of the major pharmaceutical products that are consumed in the main land. electronics as well are important to us and other manufacturing products. by the same token service industries is key to us and growing by leaps and bounds in the last few decades and then commerce, of course, including trade with all the caribbean island and other places. >> rose: and tourism? >> and tourism of course is part of, and parcel, the it is about

seven percent of our gdp but still very important, over $3 billion a year. >> rose: right, talk about the hispanic vote. do you believe the presence of you at this convention and marco rubio having a prominent place to make a speech on thursday night will give a new pace to the republican party? >> well, if i may, of course, faces are important, but what is really key is the message and what plan you are moving forward, what you are proving to the nation. when the hispanics get around the dinner table what we talk about is jobs, vocation, and in that sense,. >> rose: same concerns everybody else has. >> exactly. so in that sense, we don't want for the economy to suffer, we are naturally distrustful of big government for historical reasons so you may even say that actually. >> rose: distrustful of government. >> of government in general, exactly.

we favor lowering taxes and less regulation. having said that, the public discourse of some elements within our party at times have actually been deviated from that message to other issues that actually at times seem to push back hispanics, which makes -- >> rose: but the argument that governor romney has made with respect to women and also with respect to hispanics is he will make an economic argument that you ought to support the republican party because we can make the economy that you want to participate in better. >> of course. >> rose:. >> and that's why i am republican. >> rose: and so how does he make that argument? other than simply say, you know, a rising tide raises all boats? >> well many hispanics own small and medium sized businesses, work really hard, oftentimes you have the mother, the father, the children, and others working the same, you know, business.

and we hate for government to come in and inruled in our businesses, till us what we need to do and to actually, not allow us to keep more of our money. >> rose: mike bloomberg is an independent, the mayor, as you know of new york city makes the point, he is so pro immigration because he says immigrants that come to new york city create businesses and create employment. there is something about coming to a country and leaving a place and wanting to get your foothold, you know, that they make a significant contribution to the economy and, therefore, should be encouraged. >> well, that was the argument made by president reagan, you may recall actually he made an economic argument for it, and believed, strongly believed in the free flow of people, ideas and goods, and i strongly believe that what president reagan espoused at the time makes a lot of sense. of course after 9/11 there is some consideration that come into the equation. >> rose: right. >> but as a result --

>> rose: so what should be on the immigration agenda for both parties? >> and again, immigration is not a major issue for computer ricans because we are american citizens, as a hispanic, as an american, as a republican i will tell you that we want free flow of goods, people and ideas, however, there have to be rules. nowadays, at least the rules are in existence, the work, don't work. so we need some rules so that people who want to come here and work and contribute to the economy, people that want to come here and actually contribute their knowledge, expertise, or invest in our nation should be able to come in, in an orderly fashion, and that's what we need. and at the end of the day i am hopeful after the election both parties will be able to bring that together for the better of the economy and actually allow this. >> rose: did you approve governor romney's proposed

immigration during the primaries. >> as i see it, governor romney believes in what i am telling you, it is just the primary season, to the, doesn't lend itself to the proper discussion of such an important issue for our economy. >> rose: meaning you didn't have any problems with the immigration policies that he he nudges evaluated during the primary campaign. >> at the end of the day i am convinced he believes as president reagan did in free flow of people, goods and ideas, but he also believes that we need to protect the borders after 9/11 and there have to be rules to do that but we need workers in different segments of the economy, we want people with certain skills to stay here, it doesn't make my sense to kick out kids graduating from engineering school and chemistry, it doesn't make sense. >> rose: everybody agrees to that if you come here to get a braugh degree and have to go home, people frequently expressed ideas they should statement al green card to a diploma or if you want to invest in a country, people should be

able to come in and invest here, oftentimes they don't want to invest in their native country, they want to come to america and do that, and that will create new jobs. you have an uh unemployment rate of 14 percent. >> it is down to 13 and a half participant. it had been in 17 percent. historically we have been in double digits for deabdz. >> rose: now, why is that? >> well, there are many reasons for it. but oftentimes, there is underreporting, that is one item, we have to deal, with and i have to be open about it. at the same time, federal programs that actually will hurt those that work will force people that want to work not to tell the truth about the fact that they are working because that is what they want to do and actually we are moving strongly in to have prater control over those social programs, so that people that work are rewarded instead of being punished for

working. >> rose: your budget deficit and what you have done, did it recommend itself to other governors in american states? i mean some people have said you are the scott walker for the way you have addressed puerto rico's issues. >> i did what any american has done in their businesses or at home. in our case we were spending, for every dollar we had, we were spending a dollar and 44 cents, today we are spending $1.03. and next year, we will be spending less than a dollar for every dollar we have, and we are paying down our debt. it is what every owner of a small, immediate size business. >> rose: so you and paul ryan are on the same page? >> on many issues we are. >> rose: on budgetary issues. >> i strongly believe that we cannot continue to spend like there is no tomorrow. and actually believe that that will not hurt job creation and the economy, of course it does. we need to do something about it. we have to do it responsibly and sensibly but at the end of the day we have no choice. we have to do that.

by the same token, i believe, strongly believe we have to simplify our tax system and lower our rates. it makes all the sense in the world as well. and that's what i did in puerto rico. >> rose: what are your political ambitions? >> to see my children grow, really, and make sure that i contribute to the nation in any which way i can and i can do it in a nonprofit organization, i can do it as governor, if i again t if i get reflected in november. i never thought i would be in elected politics. it was shocking to me, my friends who call me, they call me a reluctant candidate. >> rose: why did you do it? >> because i was sick and tire of what was going on in government at the time and i went to congress, and then i decided where i could help more was at the state level and a lot of things are happening at the state level all over the country and that's what i have done and i simply applied common sense to government and that's what i have been doing, not thinking of my own reelection, but about our kids and their friend. >> rose: if, in fact, governor

romney should win the presidency and come to you and say, i want you to serve in the cabinet that would be something you would have to take a serious look at? >> let me tell you, i am running for reelection, because i want to be governor and finish the job, and i want to -- our economy is growing at close to one and a half percent. it is close to the national average when i came into office it was minus four,. >> rose: so what do you think it can be? if it is -- >> two, three? >> three and a half, four. >> rose: four? >> it makes sense and i want to do that. i would rather do that if i can, i know when the president calls you i don't know it is very tough but there are many ways you can help. even as governor, even as a private citizen ther there are y ways to help and i strongly believe that is what makes america great and strong. >> rose: governor, thank you for coming. it is a pleasure to meet you. >> it is a pleasure to meet you. >> rose: back in a moment, stay with us. >> rose: we conclude this evening by looking back at other republican conventions and other speakers. this evening former president

ronald reagan. >> together, let us make in a new beginning if. let us make a commitment to care for the immediate difficult, needy to teach our children the virtues handed down to us by our families to have the courage to defend those values and virtues and the willingness to sacrifice for them. let us pledge to restore in our time the american spirit of voluntary service, of cooperation, of private and community initiative, a spirit that flows like a deep and mighty river through the history of our nation. as your nominee i pledge to you to restore to the federal government the capacity to do the people's work without dominating their lives. >> rose: thank you for joining us for the republican national convention in tampa. we will be back tomorrow night. see you then.

>> rose: funding form charlie rose has been provided by the coca-cola company, supporting this program since 2002. , and american express. additional funding provided by these funders. and by bloomberg, a provider of

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